Will a 2" extended ported choke tube help reduce noise and help the gun swing better? This is a 3.5 mag that will be used for waterfowling. The only 2 " tube I can find is ported. Also does anyone know what it would cost to have a gunsmith custom fit a new recoil pad?

A ported barrel or choke does make it louder for the shooter and bystanders.

You can do the recoil pad yourself if you have some patience. I have done several for people and they turn out very nice. You can get the "grind to fit" pads from Brownells or Midway and if you choose to do it I can give you the details. you will need a belt sander and a good mitre, band or radial arm saw. I perfer the compound mitre saw.

You can get regular extended chokes or even flush chokes that will pattern great.

and making the gun "swing better" is all up to you and lots of practice or having the gun fitted to you. I shoot a 24" barrel most of the season and it swings as good if not better than a 28" for me. And I know a lot of guys that have switched to a 24" because they seem to swing faster. Some will tell you the the longer barrel gives a better site plane but I never see the bead when hunting anyway so it does not matter how long the barrel is for me. I shoot with both eyes open and concentrate on the bird. the gun fits right so It hits where I am pointing (NOT aiming).

Jim M wrote:because i keep hearing that a 24" gun will be too loud for others in the blind and I dont want em cussin me. Do your blind partners notice the extra noise from the 24 in brl?????????/

It depends, If I am shooting in my "area" meaning straight out and not over the other guys heads, then you can not really tell the difference but if we are shooting left and right then they say it is louder.

in our blind there are usually 2-24" guns and 2-26" guns. I can not tell the difference between the two different barrels. most of us ware auto ear plugs anyway. Everyone should be wareing some sort of hearing protection when shooting.

Like Mossberg and waterfowl said If you are trying to reduce the muzzle blast from a 24" barrel by using extended tubes you definitely do not want to use a ported tube. The ports exhaust some of the gasses to the side to reduce recoil and increase the sideways muzzle blast in the process.